History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.808.1

v4.c63.808.1

to Mit. ‘an assemblage of armed persons subsisting by following one occupation’, while Kāt. (680) says it is a corporation of brāhmaṇas. In the Rājat. II. 132 reference is made to corporations of purohitas at temples and tīrthas (sacred places). The Sm. C. states that among pūgas and vrātas there is a convention that they must go to battle all together and not separately. Among gaṇas there is a usage that the lobes of the ear (of a child) are to be pierced on the 5th day or in the fifth year from birth. Among *mahājanas* in a settlement of brāhmaṇas there is a convention that a brāhmaṇa repairing to them for collecting fees to be paid to his teacher (at the close of Vedic study) should be honoured (i. e. should be paid some contribution). In certain districts there is a usage that either the seller or the buyer should keep in his hand 1/10 of the price (probably for finding out whether the article is useful for the purpose in hand and resiling from the bargain if it is not). In forts or capitals there is a rule that corn taken out of it by a person with him when going out elsewhere should not be sold by him. In villages there is a rule that in pastures no digging would be allowed. In the hamlets inhabited by ābhīras there is a convention that for adultery by a male or female there is to be no fine.